The United States has accused Russian Federation of altering an independent United Nations report to cover up Moscow's alleged violation of UN sanctions on North Korea.

Amid such reporting, President Trump has suggested repeatedly, in interviews and via twitter, that China has been relaxing its enforcement of sanctions enacted before his summit with Kim. Sanctions were toughened last time on December 22 of the previous year.

The department claims the companies are fronts for the North Korean government.

White House officials acknowledge there's been no progress on denuclearization, even as President Donald Trump considers a second summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

"The regime's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday put up commentary by a researcher at its foreign ministry who said that the hacker the USA sanctioned does not exist, and that North Korea had nothing to do with the crime".

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Diplomats said Russian Federation pressured the independent sanctions monitors to amend the report.

The Treasury Department alleges that China Silver Star and Volasys Silver Star are run and staffed by North Korean executives and employees, with revenue going to the North Korean regime.

"The United States will continue to fully enforce and implement sanctions until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea", Mnuchin said Thursday. The Security Council has to agree by consensus on whether to publish the report and the United States objected to releasing the amended document. South Korea, a close USA ally, said in February that it would procure new patrol aircraft to cope with the emerging threat of North Korean submarine-launched missiles.

"This is a unsafe precedent and a stain on the important work of the panel", Haley said, calling for the initial version of the report - dating from early August - to be published. "The full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions remains mandatory for all member states - including Russian Federation".

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, expressed disappointment in the panel monitoring sanctions against North Korea "for caving to Russian pressure and making changes to what should have been an independent report".

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one diplomat said the amended report removed some references to Russians accused of breaching North Korea sanctions.

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